Why her 'family name' Sussex is 'meaningful' to Meghan Markle

On the morning of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's royal wedding, Queen Elizabeth conferred a Dukedom on her grandson, making him the Duke of Sussex. Meghan then became the Duchess of Sussex upon their marriage.

© Ben STANSALL - WPA Pool/Getty Images

In episode 2 of her new Netflix series, With Love, Meghan, the Duchess told pal Mindy Kaling "it’s so funny too that you keep saying Meghan Markle. You know I’m Sussex now."

Meghan continued, "You have kids, and you go, ‘No, I share my name with my children. And that feels so- I didn’t know how meaningful it would be to me, but it just means so much to go, 'This is our family name. Our little family name.'”

Meghan and Harry, who wed in 2018, welcomed their first child, son Prince Archie in 2019. Their second child, daughter Princess Lilibet, was born in 2021.

© Justin Coit/Netflix

Ahead of the premiere of With Love, Meghan, the Duchess spoke with PEOPLE about "Sussex" having a deeper meaning now that she is a mom. 

“It’s our shared name as a family, and I guess I hadn’t recognized how meaningful that would be to me until we had children,” Meghan told PEOPLE. “I love that that is something that Archie, Lili, H and I all have together. It means a lot to me.”

© Chris Jackson/Getty Images for the Invictus Games Foundation

The mom of two noted that it “is part of our love story.” She added, “I think as the kids get older, they’re so excited about, ‘Oh my gosh, Mama and Papa, how did you meet?’ I think that will come with time as they get older, but for right now a huge part of our love story is that we share the name Sussex."

Meghan's new Netflix show debuted on March 4. The Duchess chose to film With Love, Meghan at a rental rather than her own house in Montecito. “I wanted to protect that safe haven,” she explained to PEOPLE. “We’re a close-knit family, and I love those moments — putting Lili down for a nap, having lunch together, having sacred time together at the end of the day. Our kitchen is where Mama just cooks for the family, and with a crew of 80-plus people, that’s a lot of people to have in your house!”

However, her family did visit her on set. “They would also come with my husband and visit me on-set, and I loved that my children were able to watch me working and see the balance of that and understand what Mama does and is working to create and share," Meghan told PEOPLE. "It was really special because up until then, they hadn’t seen me at work.”

With Love, Meghan is now streaming on Netflix